A social network service is an online service, platform or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people (e.g., those who share interests and/or activities). A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as by e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.
Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook®) present to a particular user the posts by other users in a social networking feed often referred to as an “activity stream.” “Posts” can include text (e.g., comments, sub-comments and replies), audio, video images, etc. Often, these posts include a timeframe for the occurrence or completion of an event or activity. For example, the post of “traveling to Boston on Tuesday” indicates that the poster will be traveling to Boston on Tuesday. In another example, the post of “going to lunch—back in 30 minutes” indicates that the poster will be back from lunch in 30 minutes from the time of the posting of the post. In a further example, the post of “graduating in 3 days” indicates that the poster will be graduating in three days from the time of the posting of the post.
Currently, social networking sites do not update the status or timeframe for the occurrence or completion of these events or activities. Hence, when a requester requests the retrieval of a user's profile or user's activity stream that includes the post with time-related information, the post will continue to include the time information that the poster originally posted even though such information is outdated. For example, suppose that a requester is a follower of the poster who retrieves their activity stream that includes a post made yesterday that states that the poster will be “graduating in 3 days.” However, since the post was made yesterday, the poster will not be graduating in three days but in two days.
As a result, posts with time-related information that are later retrieved by other users will not include up-to-date timing or status information for the occurrence or completion of an event or activity mentioned in the post that would make the post more accurate and relevant for the requester.